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When to Use Safe Mode Recovery

You should use Safe Mode recovery if you experience any of these issues:
  • Black screen after installing the Virtual Display Driver
  • No display output after GPU driver updates while VDD is installed
  • Display priority scrambled and you can’t access Windows normally
  • System instability or crashes related to the display driver
  • Unable to uninstall VDD through normal methods
Critical Recovery ProcedureIf you installed a major GPU/chipset driver update while VDD was installed and now have a black screen or display issues, follow this guide to recover your system.Prevention tip: Always uninstall VDD before installing major GPU driver updates, then reinstall VDD afterward.

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Booting into Safe Mode

Safe Mode loads Windows with minimal drivers, allowing you to fix driver conflicts and uninstall problematic software.

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Method 1: From Windows Login Screen

If you can see the Windows login screen but have display issues:
1

Access recovery options

  1. At the Windows login screen, click the Power button in the bottom-right corner
  2. Hold Shift and click Restart
  3. Keep holding Shift until the recovery screen appears
2

Navigate to Safe Mode options

  1. Click Troubleshoot
  2. Click Advanced options
  3. Click Startup Settings
  4. Click Restart
3

Select Safe Mode

After the computer restarts, you’ll see a list of options:
  • Press 4 or F4 for Safe Mode
  • Press 5 or F5 for Safe Mode with Networking (if you need internet access)
  • Press 6 or F6 for Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” if you need to download drivers or access online resources during recovery.

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Method 2: Force Windows to Boot into Recovery

If you have a complete black screen and can’t access Windows:
1

Force shutdown

  1. Press and hold the Power button for 10 seconds to force shutdown
  2. Wait 5 seconds
  3. Press the Power button to turn on the computer
2

Interrupt the boot process

As soon as you see the Windows logo or manufacturer logo:
  1. Press and hold the Power button for 10 seconds to force shutdown again
  2. Repeat this process 2-3 times
Windows will detect the failed boot attempts and automatically enter recovery mode.
3

Access Safe Mode

  1. When you see “Preparing Automatic Repair” or “Diagnosing your PC”, wait for the recovery screen
  2. Click Advanced options
  3. Follow the same steps as Method 1 to access Safe Mode
Important: Make sure to properly shut down the computer each time. Forcing shutdown during boot can trigger Windows recovery mode, which is what we want in this case, but don’t do this under normal circumstances.

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Method 3: Using Windows Installation Media

If the above methods don’t work, you can boot from a Windows installation USB or DVD:
  1. Create a Windows installation USB drive on another computer if you don’t have one
  2. Insert the installation media and restart your computer
  3. Press the appropriate key (usually F2, F12, Del, or Esc) to access the boot menu
  4. Select the USB drive or DVD to boot from
  5. When you see “Install Windows”, click Repair your computer at the bottom-left
  6. Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart
  7. Select Safe Mode as described in Method 1

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Uninstalling VDD in Safe Mode

Once you’re in Safe Mode, you can safely uninstall the Virtual Display Driver.
1

Open Device Manager

  1. Right-click the Start button
  2. Click Device Manager
Or press Win + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
2

Locate the Virtual Display Driver

  1. In Device Manager, expand Display adapters
  2. Look for “Virtual Display Driver” or entries containing “MTT” or “IDD”
The driver may appear under a slightly different name depending on the version installed.
3

Uninstall the driver

  1. Right-click on the Virtual Display Driver entry
  2. Select Uninstall device
  3. Check the box that says “Delete the driver software for this device”
  4. Click Uninstall
Make sure to check the “Delete the driver software” option. This ensures the driver files are completely removed.
4

Remove driver files manually

After uninstalling from Device Manager, manually delete the driver folder:
  1. Open File Explorer
  2. Navigate to C:\VirtualDisplayDriver\
  3. Delete the entire folder
If the folder is locked or can’t be deleted:
# Open PowerShell as Administrator
Remove-Item -Path "C:\VirtualDisplayDriver" -Recurse -Force
5

Restart your computer

  1. Close all open windows
  2. Restart your computer normally (not in Safe Mode)
  3. Verify that your displays are working correctly
After restarting, check that your physical displays are functioning normally before reinstalling any drivers.

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Reinstalling or Updating GPU Drivers

After successfully uninstalling VDD, you may need to fix your GPU drivers.
If your display issues were caused by a GPU driver conflict:
  1. Download the latest drivers:
  2. Use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) for a clean installation:
    • Download DDU from guru3d.com
    • Boot into Safe Mode (using methods above)
    • Run DDU and select “Clean and restart”
    • After restart, install the new GPU drivers
  3. Verify display functionality before reinstalling VDD
After your system is stable and displays are working:
  1. Ensure your GPU drivers are up to date and stable
  2. Verify that all physical displays are working correctly
  3. Download the latest version of VDD from the releases page
  4. Install VDD using the Virtual Driver Control app
  5. Test the virtual display functionality
Wait a few days after a GPU driver update to ensure stability before reinstalling VDD.

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Recovery Checklist

Use this checklist to ensure complete recovery:
  • Successfully booted into Safe Mode
  • Uninstalled Virtual Display Driver from Device Manager
  • Checked “Delete the driver software for this device”
  • Manually deleted C:\VirtualDisplayDriver\ folder
  • Restarted computer normally (not in Safe Mode)
  • Verified physical displays are working correctly
  • (If needed) Updated or reinstalled GPU drivers
  • System is stable with no black screens or display issues
  • (Optional) Reinstalled VDD after confirming system stability

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Preventing Future Issues

Before GPU driver updates

  1. Uninstall VDD completely
  2. Restart your computer
  3. Update GPU drivers
  4. Verify stability for a few days
  5. Reinstall VDD if needed

Before Windows updates

Major Windows feature updates (e.g., 23H2 to 24H2) may cause driver conflicts:
  1. Note your VDD version
  2. Uninstall VDD before major updates
  3. Complete Windows update
  4. Reinstall VDD after update

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Additional Recovery Resources

If uninstalling VDD doesn’t resolve your issues, you can use System Restore:
  1. Boot into Safe Mode
  2. Press Win + R, type rstrui.exe, press Enter
  3. Select a restore point before you installed VDD or updated GPU drivers
  4. Follow the wizard to restore your system
System Restore will undo software installations and system changes made after the restore point. Document any important changes you’ve made recently.
To prevent data loss in future driver issues:
  1. Open Settings > Update & Security > Backup
  2. Click Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7)
  3. Click Create a system image
  4. Follow the wizard to create a full system backup
This creates a complete backup of your system that you can restore if needed.

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Still Having Issues?

If you’re still experiencing problems after following this guide:
  1. Collect diagnostic information: See Logging & Diagnostics
  2. Check GitHub Issues: Search for similar problems at github.com/VirtualDrivers/Virtual-Display-Driver/issues
  3. Create a detailed bug report: Include your:
    • Windows version
    • GPU model and driver version
    • VDD version
    • Steps that led to the issue
    • Any error messages or logs
For common issues that don’t require Safe Mode recovery, see Common Issues.

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